Consumer electronic devices, such as televisions, audio equipment, video recorders, DVD players, video game consoles, and digital video recorders (DVR) are continually shrinking in size. Many consumers have one or more of these devices and prefer to place these devices out of sight to avoid clutter. This creates a challenge in the design of these electronics, since a remote control usually needs to be within a line-of-sight of a device receiver to communicate with the device. In some examples, an external receiver, such as an infrared extender, allows the consumer to control the device despite not having a line-of-sight.
Additionally, consumers may want to control their consumer electronics with a single remote control when possible. Consumer infrared devices use an infrared electromagnetic spectrum for wirelessly communicating with one another. These infrared devices are capable of communicating with more than one device at a time. Therefore, one remote control may control multiple devices, such as a television and DVR.